Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s speech at interaction with the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Uttar Pradesh
Namaste,
It gives me great satisfaction to talk to you today. There is satisfaction because every grain of food sent from Delhi is reaching the plate of every beneficiary. There is satisfaction that the food grains, which were meant for the poor and were looted in Uttar Pradesh during the earlier governments; it is not happening now. The way Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is being implemented in UP, it further strengthens the identity of the new Uttar Pradesh. I really enjoyed talking to you and derived satisfaction for the courage and confidence with which you were speaking, and there was truth in every word you spoke. My enthusiasm to work for you has increased further. Now let's move on to the program.
Present in today's program is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi who is also Karmayogi. This is how our Yogi Adityanath ji is, all ministers of the UP government, all my colleagues in Parliament, all MPs, MLAs, Mayors, District Panchayat presidents and my dear brothers and sisters gathered in large numbers in every nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh today. Look at the beginning of the month of August which has brought so many achievements in the history of India. It appears India's victory has begun. Today's date of August 5 has become very special and important. History will record this for years. It was on 5th August, when the country had further strengthened the spirit of Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat  two years ago. After nearly seven decades, Article 370 was abrogated and every right and facility made available to every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. It was on 5th August last year when Indians took the first step towards the construction of a grand Ram temple after hundreds of years. Ram temple is being constructed at a rapid pace in Ayodhya today. And today, 5th August has once again brought so much enthusiasm and excitement for all of us. Today, the youth of the country have taken a giant leap towards reclaiming their pride in hockey on the Olympic grounds. This golden moment has come after almost four decades. Hockey, which has been our national identity, and today our youth have given a huge gift to the country to regain that glory. It is also a coincidence that today such a virtuous event is being organized for 15 crore people of UP. The poor brothers and sisters, who account for more than 80 crore people, have been getting food grains free of cost for more than a year now. But today I have got an opportunity to attend this virtuous program by participating in it and seeing all of you.
Brothers and sisters,
On the one hand, our country and our youth are creating new achievements for India, scoring goal after goal for victory, there are some people in the country who are engaged in self-goals for political selfishness. They are not concerned about what the country wants, what the country is achieving, how the country is changing. These people are busy hurting both the time and the spirit of the country for their selfishness. These people are continuously insulting the Parliament of India, the sanctum of expression of public sentiments, because of their political interests. Today every citizen of the country is working constantly to extricate himself from the biggest crisis on the humanity, which has befallen for the first time in 100 years. And these people are in competition about how to halt the work of national interest. They are engaged in this race. But friends, this great country, the great people of this country cannot become hostage to such selfish and anti-national politics. No matter how much these people try to stop the development of the country, this country is not going to stop now. They are trying to stall Parliament, but the 130 crore people are engaged in not letting the country stop. The country is progressing rapidly on every front, challenging every difficulty. Just look at the achievements of the last few weeks when the country was setting new records and there were some people who were engaged in blocking the Parliament in Delhi. The potential and success of Indians is visible everywhere if we see the records in the last few weeks. The entire nation is watching with enthusiasm the unprecedented performance  in the Olympics. India is on the verge of the 50 crore milestone in vaccination. Very soon, it will cross that figure. Even in this Corona period, the enterprise of Indians is creating new paradigms. Be it the collection of GST in July or our exports, they are touching new heights. The GST collection of Rs 1.16 lakh crore in July demonstrates that the economy is gaining momentum. At the same time, India's exports exceeded 2.5 lakh crore rupees in any one month for the first time after independence. And this has happened this month. We are among the top 10 countries in the world in agricultural exports after decades. India is said to be an agrarian country, but it has figured in the top 10 after so many decades. India's pride, the country's first Made in India aircraft carrier Vikrant, has begun its trials in the ocean. Challenging every Challenge , India has completed the construction of the world's highest motorable road in Ladakh. Recently, India has launched e-RUPI, which will strengthen Digital India in the near future and will fulfill the targeted and purposeful welfare scheme.
Friends,
Those who are worried only about their positions cannot stop India now. New India is ruling the world by winning medals and not ranks. The road to move forward in the new India will not be determined by families, but through sheer hard work. And, therefore, today the youth of India is saying – India has moved on and India's youth is determined to move ahead.
Friends,
Today's program that Yogi ji and his government has organised becomes even more important. In this difficult time, it is very important to ensure that there is not a single poor person who does not have ration in his house.
Friends,
This pandemic is not only the biggest crisis of the last hundred years, but it has engulfed the population of billions of the world, the entire human race, on many fronts. And that is creating one of the biggest challenges. We have experienced in the past that when such a big crisis hit the country earlier, then all the systems of the country used to fall to pieces. People's faith was also shaken. But today India and its every citizen is fighting this pandemic with full force. Be it the infrastructure related to medical services, the world's largest free vaccination campaign or the biggest campaign to save Indians from starvation, India is taking forward this program worth lakhs of crores of rupees with success. India hasn't let the huge number of job creators and even big mega infrastructure projects halt in the midst of this pandemic crisis. I am happy that the people of UP worked shoulder to shoulder to increase the potential of the country. The pace at which projects like highways, expressways and dedicated freight corridors and defense corridors are progressing in UP is a living example of that.
Friends,
Despite such a crisis,  the prices of food items ranging from ration to other food items, which have created a storm all over the world. In such a situation, we know that even small floods can lead to an increase in the prices of milk and vegetables. A slight disruption can lead to a surge in inflation. We also have a huge challenge before us, but I assure my poor middle class brothers and sisters that we are trying our best so that we can keep this under control; and this is also going to be possible with the cooperation of all of you. Even during the Corona period, farming and allied activities were not stopped, but they were continued with full caution. Proper arrangements were made to ensure that farmers do not face problems while accessing seeds and fertilizers and selling their produce. As a result, our farmers made a record production and the government also established new records in purchasing their produce at MSP. And our Yogi ji's government has made new records every year in procurement of food grains on MSP in the last four years. The number of farmers benefited from MSP doubled in the purchase of wheat and paddy as compared to last year. More than 13 lakh farmer families of UP have got about 24,000 crore rupees of their produce directly in their bank accounts.
Friends,
The double engine government of the Center and Uttar Pradesh is making continuous efforts for the convenience and empowerment of the common people. The campaign to provide facilities to the poor did not slow down despite the Corona pandemic. So far, more than 17 lakh rural and urban poor families have been sanctioned their pucca houses in UP. Lakhs of poor families have got toilet facilities at home. About 1.5 crore poor families have been given free gas connections under Ujjwala and electricity connections to lakhs of families. The mission of providing water to every household is also progressing at a rapid pace in UP. Piped water has been supplied to 27 lakh rural households in UP within the last two years.
Brothers and sisters,
The double engine government has ensured that the schemes made for the poor, downtrodden, backward and tribal communities are implemented expeditiously. PM SVANidhi Yojana is also a great example of this. In the circumstances created by the corona, the street vendors have been linked with the banks to put their livelihood on track. In a very short time, the process of giving benefits to about 10 lakh friends in UP has started under this scheme.
Friends,
You will recall what has been the identity of Uttar Pradesh in the past decades and what was mentioned about Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has always been seen through the prism of politics. That UP can play a leading role in the development of the country was not even discussed. Many people have come and gone who dreamed that the way to the throne of Delhi passes through UP, but they never remembered that the way to India's prosperity also passes through UP. These people restricted Uttar Pradesh as the center of politics only. Some people used UP only for dynasty, for their family or political interests. Due to the narrow politics of these people, such a large state of India was not linked with the economic development of India. Yes, some people did become rich, some families definitely progressed. These people did not enrich UP but themselves. I am happy that today Uttar Pradesh has come out of the vicious circle of such people and is marching ahead. The double engine government has changed the way we look at UP's potential from a narrower perspective. The confidence that UP can become the powerhouse of India's growth engine has been developed in the past years. For the first time in the history of UP, the dreams of ordinary youth are being talked about. For the first time in the history of UP, an atmosphere of fear has become apparent among the criminals. For the first time in the history of UP, there is fear in the minds of those who persecute the poor, intimidate the weaker sections and illegal occupiers.
A system that was addicted to corruption and nepotism has begun to make a meaningful change. Today it is being ensured in UP that every penny of the public's share reaches the public's accounts directly, the public gets benefited. Today UP is becoming the center of investment. Big companies are eager to come to UP. Mega projects of infrastructure are being developed in UP, industrial corridors are being built and new employment opportunities are being created.
Brothers and sisters,
The hardworking people of Uttar Pradesh are a huge basis for building AatmaNirbhar Bharat, a prosperous India. Today we are celebrating 75 years of independence, the Amrit Mahotsav of freedom. This festival is not just a celebration of freedom. Rather, it is an opportunity for bigger goals and resolutions for the forthcoming 25 years. Uttar Pradesh has a huge stake and responsibility in these resolutions. Now it is the turn of Uttar Pradesh to achieve what it could not in the last decades. This decade is in a way a decade to make up for the shortcomings of the last seven decades of Uttar Pradesh. This is not possible without the adequate participation of the common youth of UP, our daughters, poor, downtrodden, backward, and creating better opportunities for them. We are moving ahead with this mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas. In the past, two major decisions related to education have been taken and Uttar Pradesh is going to be a big beneficiary. The first decision is related to engineering studies. The children of UP's villages and poor were deprived of engineering and technical education to a great extent due to the language problem. Now this compulsion has been done away with. Engineering and technical education is being taught in many Indian languages, including Hindi. Best courses and curriculum have been designed using modern technology. Institutions in many states of the country have started implementing this facility.
Brothers and sisters,
Another important decision is related to medical education. OBCs and backwards were kept out of the purview of reservation from the All India quota in medical education. Altering this situation, our government has recently given 27 percent reservation to OBCs under this quota. Moreover, the 10 percent reservation for children from poor families of general category has also been implemented from this session. With this decision, a large talent pool will be created for those who want to become doctors in the medical profession. Every section of the society will be encouraged to move forward. It will pave the way for the children of the poor to become doctors.
Brothers and sisters,
In the health sector too, unprecedented work has been done in Uttar Pradesh in the last few years. Imagine what would have been the condition of UP 4-5 years ago if there was a global pandemic like Corona? Then diseases like common cold, fever, cholera used to become a threat to life. Today, Uttar Pradesh is becoming the first state to reach the milestone of vaccinating about 5.25 crore people. And that too when confusion was spread and falsehood was propagated by some people about Made in India vaccines. But the sensible people of UP rejected every illusion, every lie. I am sure that Uttar Pradesh will take the free vaccine campaign for all at a faster pace and will not relax rules regarding use of masks and distance of two yards. Once again, I convey my best wishes to all the beneficiaries of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. There will be festivals soon. There are so many festivals till Diwali. Therefore, we have decided that free ration will continue till Diwali so that none of our poor families should suffer in these festivals. I once again wish you all the very best for all the upcoming festivals. May you be healthy, may your family be healthy. Thank you very much!!
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.